


Roadside Attraction

by Lush_Specimen



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Post-Canon, Road Trips, cybertronians being confounded by earth stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-16
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:54:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22761304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lush_Specimen/pseuds/Lush_Specimen
Summary: When Thundercracker invites Aileron and Arcee to his latest Hollywood movie premiere, they decide to drive across the country and see all the sights along the way. Arcee might not be too excited about camping but she couldn't ask for better company.The super cute piece I wrote for antheliia as part of the 2020 Transformers Femslash February Fic Exchange!!
Relationships: Aileron/Arcee (Transformers)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 15





	Roadside Attraction

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt was Arcee/Aileron, IDW1, "seeing the world"
> 
> There's so many big and important things to see in the world, I thought it would be fun to focus on the smaller and weirder sights! All roadside attractions mentioned in the fic are totally real places. I love that stuff!

Arcee woke up in the predawn darkness. Frost covered her windshield and the cold seeped into her joints. She transformed and stretched, delicate ice crystals flaking off her pink and white armor. On mornings like this she felt every single one of her ten million years. A shiver raced through her systems. She’d feel a lot better once the sun rose. 

“Oh hey! You’re up early today!” Aileron chirped, appearing at her side with a warm mug on caffeinated energon. “Good morning!” 

“Is it?” Arcee groaned as she worked through her stretches, but her smile gave her away. How could the cold reach her while she basked in the glow of her own personal ray of sunshine? 

“It is now!” Aileron smiled, handing Arcee her own mug. She casually wrapped an arm around her waist. 

“Mmm.” Arcee sipped her warm drink. “I’ll have to take your word for it.” 

“Oh, come on!” Aileron laughed, jostling the taller bot. “It’s an adventure!” 

“You know,” Arcee took another sip, savoring the sweet buzz. “When Thundercracker invited us to his new movie premiere in Hollywood, we could have just hitched a ride with Jetfire.” 

“Yeah, we could have done that, but we’d have flown right over all the amazing things we’ve seen so far!” Aileron giggled. “You just don’t like camping.” 

“There’s nothing wrong with enjoying the comforts of a peaceful life.” 

“Exactly!” Aileron squeezed her tightly. “Which is what I’m doing right now!” 

“Alright!” Arcee relented. She knocked back the rest of her morning energon. “You’ve got me! I never would have seen the World’s Largest Rocking Chair. Either one of them.” She elbowed Aileron. 

“Pfft!” Aileron laughed. “I can’t believe they both make that claim. The one in Illinois had such a cool design, but I think the one in Missouri was a little bigger.” 

“I’m partial to the World’s Largest Wind Chime myself.” Arcee grinned. When Aileron suggested that they leave for Thundercracker’s event a few weeks early and drive across the country using only the back roads, she had her doubts. Camping might not be her favorite activity, but seeing Aileron so excited about the various strange Earth Monuments more than made up for it. “I appreciated the interactive nature of it.” 

“Until the mayor had to come and personally ask you to stop ringing it.” Aileron rolled her optics. 

“She should have thought of that before they built it.” Arcee shrugged. 

“The Earth people are so fascinating. I love all these strange monuments they’ve scattered across the land!” Aileron gushed. 

“Speaking of weird roadside stuff, what’s on tap for today?” Arcee transformed and revved her engine. 

“The Geographical Center of the Lower 48 States. Someone built a little monument in the middle of a field. It’s a couple of hours west of here. I don’t really have anything between here and there so we’ll have to keep an optic open for road signs. According to the guide book that Marissa gave me, many small towns simply put up a sign to attract visitors to whatever masterpiece they’ve constructed.” 

“Alright. Since I’m on the road, I’ll let you know if I see anything.” 

“And I’ll fly low to help look.” Aileron transformed and looped around to hover above Arcee. “Let’s go! This is so exciting!! I wonder what we’ll find today!” 

Arcee’s engine purred as Aileron’s downdraft washed over her. She couldn’t help herself. As the pulled out of their campsite, she shouted, “Transform and ROLL OUT!” 

Cruising down the two-lane highways, Arcee marveled at how much the terrain varied. Yesterday they wound their way through hilly forests and today the world simply opened up before them. The trees gave way to rolling farmland and the hills gradually grew smaller. Once the morning fog burned away, she could see so far. Billowy white clouds rolling across a sea of endless blue. 

Aileron whooped and performed a looping barrel roll, contrails tracing fluid patterns across the sky. Arcee slowed slightly to watch her conjunx. A gentle breeze rustled across the prairie and caressed her frame. She never felt so happy, so relaxed, in her entire life. She wished that she could send a single image of this glorious day to her past self, just to let her know that after some seriously dark times a truly bright future awaited. 

Her scanners pinged an alert about a road sign several miles ahead. Arcee chuckled to herself. Scanners that used to be calibrated to alert her to enemies and dangers lurking on every side now searched for indications of roadside curiosities. 

“Hey! Got a pretty big sign ahead!” Arcee called out over the comm link. Not detecting any earth-based vehicles in the vicinity, she revved her engine and tore down the arrow straight strip of blacktop. She magnified the view on her scanner to read the weathered hand-lettered billboard. “Could be something interesting!” 

_20 Miles Ahead! Cawker City, Kansas – Home of the World’s Largest Ball of Twine_

“You’re gonna wanna see this one!” Arcee laughed. “Swoop down!” 

“Woohoo!!” Aileron barrel rolled into a loop-de-loop and changed course towards the sign. She transformed and hopped to the ground just as Arcee pulled up beside her. 

“Well, what do you think?” Arcee asked as she sidled up to her conjunx, already knowing the answer. 

“Sweet Solus Prime, Arcee!” Aileron gasped, so excited she practically vibrated. “It’s an –EST!” 

“Largest, tallest, biggest, smallest!” Arcee laughed. Aileron loved any attraction that proposed to be the most of anything. 

“It’s not mentioned in the road trip guide book! We HAVE to stop!!” 

“I knew you’d love it!” 

“This is so cool!” Aileron gushed as she transformed and took to the sky, following the ribbon of lonely highway towards the promised town. “How big will it be? What even is twine? I have so many questions!!” 

“Well, let’s go get some answers!” Arcee took to the road again. The only question she had was _why_. Why construct something so significant so far away from the centers of civilization? Maybe she’d find the answer to her question as well. 

20 miles flew by in no time at all as they raced along in their alt modes. Aileron waited for Arcee at the edge of a small town next to a sign that exclaimed that they had indeed found the home of the World’s Largest Ball of Twine. 

“Arcee! Look! Look!” Aileron pranced around pointing out faded painted yellow line scrolling along the sidewalk. “I bet it leads to the twine! I am so excited!!” 

“Well. Let’s go see what this is all about.” 

Still fairly early, most of the shops were closed. After driving through the congested streets of Kansas City searching out some of the 200 plus fountains that earned them the title of “City of Fountains,” Arcee found the small town perfectly charming. Just another example of the great variety of things to see on this strange planet. 

They strolled along the wide main street, hand in hand, following the squiggling line of paint. Just a few long Cybertronian strides brought them to the center of town and a four-posted white shelter with a burgundy metal roof. Beneath the roof sat a spherical mass of golden organic string as tall as Aileron and wider than Arcee’s alt mode. 

“Stunning!” Aileron whispered, reverently drawing near. She cautiously reached out to touch it. “This must be it!” 

“I’ll admit,” Arcee nodded, “It is rather impressive. Especially with the shrine constructed around it.” 

As they closely examined the unexplained wonder of the twine ball, a non-sentient teal blue earth truck pulled up into a nearby parking space. It had a curvier design than most of the vehicles Arcee had seen on this trip so far. 

“Never had tourists quite like you before!” The human driver hopped out and slammed her door. “I saw you on the news! You helped save us from those aliens! Especially that super big one!” 

“Something like that,” Arcee folded her arms. Although this human didn’t appear hostile, long millennia of warfare had taught her not to trust freely. She was about to suggest they leave when Aileron launched into introductions. 

“Hi!” She waved enthusiastically. “I’m Aileron and this is my conjunx, Arcee. Thundercracker has a premier coming up and we’re taking a road trip to see all the important sights! We saw a sign proclaiming this wonder and just had to see it for ourselves!” 

“I’m not quite sure what all that means, but anyone that appreciates the twine is okay in my book.” The woman smiled. “Since you’re here, would you like to add some twine and help us retain the title of ‘Largest’?” 

“Primus!” Aileron gasped. “You mean we can become part of it! YES, PLEASE!” 

“You’re in luck!” The human reached into her truck. Arcee tensed. “I’m on my way to open up the gift shop and happen to have the twine spool right here!” She pulled out a strange cylinder covered with the same golden material as the gigantic twine ball. Arcee relaxed, silently berating herself for worrying about one small human but war time instincts just don’t go away. 

“Come on!” Aileron tugged Arcee along. “Let’s do it together!!” 

The woman tied the end of the string to the massive twin ball and handed them the spool. Although it filled the human’s arms, Aileron and Arcee took hold of it with just a fingertip each. They carefully walked around the strange shrine, adding their length of twine to the monument. Aileron’s excitement spilled over Arcee until she found herself giggling as well. 

It was all so frivolous. And yet so utterly enjoyable. Arcee stopped and her optics widened. She had a sudden epiphany. Could that be the reason for all the weird sights that they had seen so far? For all the stops the Aileron still had planned? Somehow, with their comically short life spans, the earth people had perfected the art of defiantly enjoying life despite the darkness that crouched in every corner of the universe. 

Some earth person had begun this growing monument purely for the fun of it. Then put up a sign so that other travelers might stop and make their own fun memories. Arcee smiled even broader as she realized that this ball of organic string had seen the rise and fall of Unicron. It had outlasted an invading army of legions and a massive weapon unlike any other ever created. She laughed. Who would have thought that a beacon of hope could be made of twine? 

“Thank you so much!” Aileron squealed as the human tied off their addition. 

“Yeah.” Arcee hugged her conjunx tightly. “I am proud to become part of the legacy of such a courageous memorial. It is my deepest honor.” 

“You two are too much!” The woman laughed. “Mind if I take a picture for our website? Famous folks such as yourselves don’t stop by everyday!” 

“Only if you send me a copy!” Aileron beamed. She wrapped one arm around Arcee’s waist and held the other hand with two fingers raised. Arcee still wasn’t sure if that gesture meant peace or victory. Either one worked. Arcee lived on earth as an undercover operative for years during the war yet, in her short time on the planet, Aileron learned so much more about the native cultures. 

As the woman backed up to fit both of them and the monument in the frame, Arcee leaned heavily on her conjunx. Aileron giggled and playfully pushed back against her. Arcee's engine purred. 

“I’m so glad we decided to drive across the country.” 

“Remember that when we roll into the campground tonight.” Aileron laughed. 

“I’ll do my best.” Arcee chuckled. “As long as you’re by my side, I can’t wait to explore every inch of this planet, this galaxy, this universe.” 

“In that case,” Aileron grinned, “I’m gonna need a bigger guidebook!”

**Author's Note:**

> By the way, there really is a rope that you can pull to ring the world's largest windchime! It's tied off most of the time so it doesn't chime constantly. If you ever find yourself driving though Casey, IL, top and give it a ring!
> 
> As always, thank you for reading!
> 
> I appreciate your kudos and love reading your comments!!
> 
> You can find me on tumblr at: [lush-specimen.tumblr.com](https://lush-specimen.tumblr.com/)


End file.
